Zhou Duanyong, Wang Ruirui, Li Xiao, Peng Bin, Yang Guangzhu, Zhang Ke-Qin, Zhang Ying, Xu Jianping
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, and Key Laboratory for Southwest Microbial Diversity of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650032, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
College of Life Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650032, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
Microb Ecol. 2022 May;83(4):869-885. doi: 10.1007/s00248-021-01804-w. Epub 2021 Jul 19.
The emergence and spread of azole resistance alleles in clinical and environmental isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus is a global human health concern and endangers the "One Health" approach in our fight against antifungal resistance (AFR) in this pathogen. A major challenge to combat AFR in A. fumigatus is the massive aerial dispersal ability of its asexual spores. Our recent fine-scale survey of greenhouse populations of A. fumigatus near Kunming, Yunnan, China, suggested that the use of azole fungicides for plant protection was likely a major driver of the high-frequency azole-resistant A. fumigatus (ARAF) in greenhouses. Here, we investigated the potential spread of those ARAF and the structure of geographic populations of A. fumigatus by analyzing 452 isolates from 19 geographic locations across Yunnan. We found lower frequencies of ARAF in these outdoor populations than those in greenhouses near Kunming, but there were abundant new alleles and new genotypes, including those associated with azole resistance, consistent with multiple independent origins of ARAF across Yunnan. Interestingly, among the four ecological niches, the sediments of a large lake near Kunming were found to have the highest frequency of ARAF (~ 43%). While most genetic variations were observed within the 19 local populations, statistically significant genetic differentiations were found between many subpopulations within Yunnan. Furthermore, similar to greenhouse populations, these outdoor populations of A. fumigatus in Yunnan were significantly different from those in other parts of the world. Our results call for increased attention to local and regional studies of this fungal pathogen to help develop targeted control strategies against ARAF.
烟曲霉临床和环境分离株中唑类抗性等位基因的出现和传播是一个全球人类健康问题，危及我们在对抗这种病原体的抗真菌耐药性（AFR）方面的“同一健康”方法。应对烟曲霉AFR的一个主要挑战是其无性孢子的大规模空气传播能力。我们最近对中国云南昆明附近烟曲霉温室种群的精细调查表明，使用唑类杀菌剂进行植物保护可能是温室中高频率唑类抗性烟曲霉（ARAF）的主要驱动因素。在这里，我们通过分析来自云南19个地理位置的452个分离株，研究了这些ARAF的潜在传播以及烟曲霉地理种群的结构。我们发现这些室外种群中ARAF的频率低于昆明附近温室中的频率，但有丰富的新等位基因和新基因型，包括与唑类抗性相关的那些，这与云南各地ARAF的多个独立起源一致。有趣的是，在四个生态位中，发现昆明附近一个大湖的沉积物中ARAF的频率最高（约43%）。虽然大多数遗传变异在19个本地种群中被观察到，但在云南的许多亚种群之间发现了具有统计学意义的遗传分化。此外，与温室种群类似，云南这些室外烟曲霉种群与世界其他地区的种群有显著差异。我们的结果呼吁更多关注对这种真菌病原体的局部和区域研究，以帮助制定针对ARAF的有针对性的控制策略。
